We all have traditions. Some are cultural practices shared among a large population while some habits are just passed on from one generation to the next being unique to each family. And in my family, we had a lot of food-related traditions.
One such food-related memory I have is that of eating Dhal Rice for lunch on Good Friday. This was a pure vegetarian meal and my mom would prepare it only once a year and we’d never eat it any other day of the year. And since it was reserved only for this special day, the meal had that much more significance to me growing up.
Over the years even though I had moved away from South Asia and adapted my palate to western foods, somehow I would always remember the Dhal Rice on Good Friday. Often I’d wish I had learned how to make it on my own but never taking the time to learn knowing that my current community may not enjoy it therefore leaving me tons of leftovers. So I just let it go.
But this year was different. As Good Friday came and went, the craving to have some Dhal Rice grew in me. So this weekend I tried to see if I could mimic that taste of yesteryears. So I looked up the recipe I had gotten from my mom many years ago and decided to give it a try…but I made a few changes of my own.
And one of the changes that I made was also in the preparation style. Generally this recipe would have taken a long time to cook over a stove top requiring constant supervision but I decided to try using my electric pressure cooker to see if I could speed up the process and help me save some time. And I must admit that the results were pretty close to being authentic. Would my parents say the same if they tasted my end result? Probably not. But to my very westernized palate this was as close to authentic as it could get.
So here’s what I did.
Set cooker on Saute mode with high heat and added the following ingredients in same order, stirring as needed:
2 tablespoons olive oil
1/2 cup diced Red Onion
3 garlic cloves roughly chopped
2 green chilies sliced
2 cups Thoor Dhal (available in Indian grocery stores)
2 small eggplants cut up
3 small potatoes peeled and cut up
3 cups Brown Rice
6 cups water
3-4t Salt (or to taste)
Then I closed the pressure lid and valve, set it to high 30 minutes and left to go to church.
When I got home few hours later and opened the lid, I was eager to taste it as soon as I got home. It looked absolutely marvelous. I gave it a good stir and immediately enjoyed it with some Indian mango pickle on the side.
I admit that my recipe is lacking some of the basic ingredients that my mom would have used but I wasn’t necessarily intent on preserving the original recipe. I just wanted something that would help me still savor the memories using some healthier options.
What are some of your family recipes which you still enjoy (or wish you did)?
Jubila 365 